Currently, absorbent articles for sanitary protection include pantiliners, sanitary napkins, interlabial devices, and incontinence pads. These absorbent articles must fit a variety of individual body shapes and sizes and must also fit the different types of underwear available. Additionally, the options of underwear type are increasing. Not only are the shapes of the crotch changing (e.g., full-sized or conventional vs. abbreviated) but the materials and color used to make the underwear are giving woman many more choices than in previous history.
Fashion also dictates the type of underwear chosen. Pant styles, especially among the younger generation of menstruating women, can be extremely fitted. Skirts may also be short and fitted. For this reason, sanitary protection articles need to be necessarily discrete. Absorbent articles that have previously been bulky are being made thinner with the use of additives, such as super absorbent polymers, which absorb large quantities of fluid with less bulk than a conventional pulp absorbent.
Likewise, pant and undergarments are becoming more sheer making the color of absorbent articles to become increasingly more important. For example, a woman wearing a short skirt with dark, sheer pantyhose and/or a pair of dark, sheer underwear may prefer to have a corresponding colored absorbent article for sanitary protection as opposed to the traditional white.
Additionally, while increasing the overall absorptive capacity has proved to be beneficial in preventing soiling undergarments, the impression to the user, however, is that the absorbent core has reached its capacity and is near failure due to the visual presence of such fluids on the absorbent article.
Finally, there is the psychological benefit of wearing an “unsoiled” absorbent article if the user has the perception that the article is clean and dry.
These problems are partially addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,647 to Oetjen. In this patent, there is disclosed a sanitary napkin having a fluid pervious masking member disposed about the periphery of the napkin.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,494 to Datta discloses masking properties that are provided by a spunbonded liner fabric material having a heavy loading of pigment in fibers of a heavier denier than generally formed into a spunbonded fabric. In particular, the fibers and filaments were disclosed as being formed of polypropylene, copolymers of polypropylene and polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene, other polyolefins and polyesters. The larger filaments were disclosed as being easier to extrude and the lightweight of the web lowers cost as less polymer is used. Datta disclosed that the cover is formed with a large open area. This large open area was presumed to allow passing of small clots in menstrual fluid for presenting a cleaner surface. Further, Datta also postulated that by having a large open area, liquids supplied to the cover are absorbed faster, and the cover both feels and looks drier and cleaner.
Datta disclosed that the pigment or colorant could be light pink, peach and other pastel colors. In particular, a preferred color was white, which was disclosed as being formed by titanium dioxide being present in an amount between about 1 and about 6% by weight. The pastel colors were disclosed as optionally being preferred in some instances to mask certain absorbed materials with a resulting pleasing color.
Recently, Procter & Gamble (Cincinnati, Ohio) launched a black pantiliner under its ALLDAYS brand. This product has a black transfer layer and a black apertured film layer that are disposed on an absorbent core. Additionally, two black nonwoven fabric strips, that are oriented in longitudinally opposed parallel relationship about a longitudinal central zone of the black apertured film layer are provided. The general structure of this ALLDAYS product is disclosed in WO 93/097744, published May 27, 1993, to Procter & Gamble Company. While this ALLDAYS product appears black, the white absorbent core is discernible to the naked eye in the central zone of the black apertured film layer. In addition, this product suffers from poor fluid masking.
Accordingly, there is a need for an absorbent product that offers not only superior fluid masking, but does not also reveal the white absorbent core to the user. By providing such an absorbent product the user has the perception of a clean and dry product.